Reworking a remake

Prasad Ramar is learning the ropes with the dubbed film Nalo Okkadu.

A still from 'Nalo Okkadu', (Enakkul Oruvan in Tamil), remade from Kannada film Lucia.

Nalo Okkadu is Prasad Ramar’s first dubbed film in Telugu (from Enakkul Oruvan in Tamil, remade from Kannada film Lucia) after working with Karthik Subbaraj, who directed Pizza and Jigarthanda .

Madurai-based Prasad Ramar had a keen interest in films since childhood but due to financial constraints , couldn’t pursue serious study in film institutes; so he graduated in management. “I am basically a storyteller and was deep into literature. I got interested in visual story telling and it pushed me into movies,” he says.

Ramar makes no effort to conceal that

Enakkul Oruvan didn’t get favourable response at the box office. He maintains that a new subject takes time to reach the audience and attributes the feeble run to its complex story. “We knew the risk factors and thought may be in the long run some films get noticed.”

Prasad Ramar took the liberty to change the fantasy elements in the original version and focussed on the emotional issues and aspects of relationships. He reveals that Siddharth came to the project early. They didn't do any brainstorming sessions on whom to rope in as the hero.

Siddharth was an obvious choice; he actually wanted to produce and buy the rights but producer CV Kumar procured it before Siddharth. He avers, “We knew his calibre and took him. He did a very good job and it was quite an experience for him to undergo a makeover and make audience accept him. The tagline is ‘your life might be someone else's big dream’.

Actually, most of us live others’ lives, not ours. We want to be like them.

He adds, “The film gave me great confidence in handling actors, making them understand and to direct the next film. Siddhu supported me though I am a debut director. Music director Santhosh Narayanan is a gem. My next film is a linear one and probably an action entertainer.”